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Business & Tech

Santa Cruz is part of California 'Dreamers' Campaign

A new TV commercial promoting tourism in California includes a scene shot in Santa Cruz.

Even though summer is over, Santa Cruz is still about to have another day in the sun. 

On film, anyway. 

Santa Cruz is one of 18 locations shown in a new California “Dreamers” television commercial that promotes tourism in the Golden State. The 30-second ads started airing nationally this month. 

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The scene featuring Santa Cruz shows a guitar-strumming girl sitting on the jetty with Walton Lighthouse behind her, as a sailboat cruises the Monterey Bay in the background. The girl pulls a music headset off her ears and asks, “huh?” The scene is part of a quick series of montages with short bits of dialogue. 

Filming took place in late August at the Santa Cruz Harbor. The Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council (CVC) worked with a location scout and Visit California, the state tourism board, to identify the spot for the production. 

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The concept of the commercial is to show a variety of settings throughout California, with catchy dialogue extolling the laid-back attitude of the Golden State.  

VIDEO: See the California ‘Dreamers’ commercial on YouTube 

“California has always been a place for dreamers – our landscapes inspire people from around the world – and Santa Cruz is one of those places.” said Visit California president and CEO Caroline Beteta. “The natural beauty, the sunny coast, the free-spirited, can-do vibe are what make people dream about coming to California. We can capture all of that here at Walton Lighthouse.” 

The 30-second spot will air in select U.S. and Canadian broadcast markets in mid-October with the United Kingdom following in December and Australia in early 2014.  

Other California locations featured in “Dreamers” include Bliss Point and Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Calistoga, Burney Falls in Shasta County, Big Sur, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, Mission Bay and near Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, and Hollywood.  The shoot took place during eight days over a two week-period and starred William Shatner, Olympic volleyball player Kerri Walsh-Jennings, and skateboarder Bob Burnquist among others. 

The second time around 

“This is Santa Cruz County’s second time in the national and international spotlight when it comes to Visit California’s use of our settings for promotional purposes,” said Maggie Ivy, CEO of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council.  “We are proud to showcase our amazing ‘natural’ talent in such a creative way with the state.” 

Last February, the zip line at Mount Hermon Conference Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains was featured in Visit California’s family travel initiative, “Playground California,” with the national airing of its new Kids at Play TV commercial.   

An extended version of the California Dreamers video is posted on YouTube and can be seen by clicking here

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